Final Chapter, everyone. What an amazing story this has been, and it's finally finished. I'm sorry I didn't post it earlier, but my life interfered, unfortunately.
Chapter 6: The Breaking Point
It's been four days since I called MI6 and explained our next course of action. Of course, Mrs. Jones agreed to help. The house was evacuated yesterday, and now, we're about to launch the drone.
"Ready to launch in 3…2…1…" a mans voice says over the intercom. I watch the camera that was placed at his house. We're at home, watching as his house goes up in flames. The drone is very much like a bomb, its not radioactive. I made sure of that. I watch as Nikolei's house explodes in a huge fireball. When the fireball clears, I can see that there will be no way to salvage the house, or anything in it. I'm not supposed to feel a flash of sympathy for my old friend, but I do. It disappears a moment later, though.
My cell phone rings, and I pick it up.
"You think your so smart, don't you, Yassen? Destroying my car, destroying my warehouse, destroying my home? I've got news for you. I…don't…care! I will kill you, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. Nothing!" Nikolei hangs up.
I glance at John, then at Anton. "We're going to drain his bank account," I say.
"How will that help?" Alex asks.
"Well, he still has money to buy supplies to kill me. We can take that money away,"
"We could freeze the account," John says. "That would annoy him to no end,"
"No, I want him to see that I'm powerful enough to take it away," I reply.
"All right. We'll need his bank account number then," Anton says.
"MI6 has that. I already asked." I tell him.
"Good. When are they going to do it?" John says.
"As soon as possible. Anton, if he can no longer pay his guards, will they still work for him?" I ask.
"What does that matter?" Alex asks before Anton can reply.
"Because, if they are still loyal to him, they can get the supplies for him. No, they probably won't be," Anton replies to Alex's question first, then mine. I nod.
"Good, then that won't be a problem. Hopefully this will cause him to give up," I sigh.
"He does have other sources that might be willing to help him," Anton warns.
"But are they willing to help him for free?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.
"Probably not," he replies after a few moments. I nod in satisfaction. Everything is going according to plan. I can't help but wonder if something will go horribly wrong and ruin everything.
"Yassen? Did you hear me?" I realize John is speaking to me.
"What?" I ask blankly.
"I asked what was on your mind," he replies, looking slightly worried.
"Oh…nothing," I say, not wanting to voice my superstitions.
"You sure it's nothing?" he asks; he knows me too well.
"Yes, it was just a stupid thought," I tell him.
"All right, if you say so," John says, but I can tell he doesn't believe me.
"Its nothing to worry about," I say, trying to convince him.
"Sure it's not," Alex says sarcastically.
"All right, that's enough. it doesn't matter. Can we move on already?" I say, getting frustrated.
"Sure, why not?" Alex says. I sigh in exasperation, but I let his comment slide.
"This is the last resort we have. After this, if he still hasn't given up…I'm afraid we're going to have to kill him," I say. Everyone, including I, glance at Anton. He looks at me, then gives a slight nod.
"I understand. We should start planning that. Just in case," he says. Just in case.
"I think it will be quite easy. He hardly has anything left that he can call his own; he must be staying in a hotel or something. We can trace him by his cell phone. Then all we have to do is wait until he comes out," John says.
"Good. What type of gun are we going to use to kill the target?" I say, then realize exactly what I've just done. I feel my face burn with shame. "I…Anton…I'm sorry. I'm just so used to this kind of thing…I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry," I feel horrible. Everyone is staring at me. "I'm sorry," I mutter again. Then I get up and walk away. I go to my room. I lock the door behind me, and I sit on my bed. I stare at the all, my thoughts filled with what I've just done. I called him a target. I dehumanized my childhood best friend. I'm planning his death like its…like it's just another mission for Scorpia.
There's a knock on the door. "Yassen?" A voice says. I don't respond a moment later, I hear the knob giggling, and a moment after that it opens and Anton comes in.
"Really? You picked the lock?" I say. He gives a slight smirk.
"I'm sorry," I say again.
"I understand. You're used to this. This is your life; killing people. In order to do this, you have to make whoever your killing not human. It makes it easier to kill them that way." he says, sitting down in the chair by my desk.
"I don't think draining his bank account is going to affect him hardly at all. I think the only thing that's going to stop him is killing him," I say, voicing the thought that's been consuming me for the past few weeks.
"Yeah. I know. I've known we would eventually reach this point. I was just hoping…we were only delaying the inevitable." he sighs.
"He's your dad. You were hoping he would change. He didn't though, and now…this is the result," I say.
'I'll do it,' he says after a long silence.
"What?" I say, confused.
"I'll kill him," he clarifies.
"No, I'll do it. It should be me. you shouldn't have to go through that," I say.
"Do you want to do it?" he asks after a moment. It's a casual enough question, but I can help but wonder what the motives behind it are. Does he expect me to be eager to do this or something?
"Do I…your asking how I feel about it?" he nods. "He was my best friend when we were children. Of course I don't want to have to kill him. I don't really have a choice, though, do I?" I ask.
"No, I suppose not," he says thoughtfully.
"We should keep planning," I say after a moment. He nods silently, and we walk back into the dinning room. When we enter, John glances at me, then at Anton.
"You all right, Yassen?" he asks, looking worried again.
"I'm fine,' I say. It's not true, though. I realize that the only choice I have is to kill Nikolei. He was my best friend since childhood. How can I kill a man who I grew up with, who I spent almost all my time with, who I told all my deepest, darkest secrets to? How can I kill him when he was the only person I trusted back then?
"Yassen? I'll do it. I'll kill him," John says. I realize there are tears streaming down my face. I quickly wipe them away.
"No, it should be me," I reply, trying to keep my voice steady. I realize everyone is staring at me, and I feel heat blaze on my cheeks.
"But…you….he-" I cut him off.
"It should be me, John I'll be fine,' I say, but I'm not entirely convinced myself that I'll be all right.
"Are we still going to drain his bank account?" Alex asks. He looks slightly shaken. I realize that he's hardly ever seen me cry. The thought that such a self-controlled, powerful man like me can cry must shock him.
I sigh. "Yeah, we will. It probably won't work, but it's worth a shot,"
"You really don't think it's going to work?" Jeremy says, sounding slightly depressed. He looks a little scared; he's never seen me cry before. I wonder if his feelings are similar to Alex's right now.
"No, I don't." I reply. We leave it at that, and we don't talk about it any more. I live the next few days in misery. I'm dreading receiving the call from MI6 telling us it's done and it had no effect whatsoever. And finally, after three agonizing days, the call comes. But it's not from MI6. it's from Nikolei.
"Well, you have been busy, haven't you? you want to play this game? I can play too. Just you wait," he hangs up.
'Nikolei? He's chatty," John says, trying to lighten up the situation.
"He's coming after you guys now," I say without emotion.
"I'm ready for him," John replies.
"Really? What about Alex and Jeremy?" I say, glancing at them.
"I'm ready. People have tried to kill me before," Alex says.
"you've always had MI6 to back you up," I reply.
"Not always," he says, smiling slightly. "There was this one time where this guy saved me. He almost died for me," he says. He's talking about me, of course.
"What about Jeremy? He's never been in this kind of situation," I say.
"We'll take care of him," John says, patting me on the back.
"What about Anton?" I ask. There's silence, and I glance around. "Where'd he go?" I ask. I feel a flicker of dread. I walk into the kitchen. There's a neatly folded note on the table. I unfold it nervously.
"'I heard what he said on the phone I know it's hard for you to have to accept the fact that he's going to have to die. I also didn't want to see the people you care about in danger. I've gone after him myself. Wish me luck,'" I read aloud. I let out an angry spew of curse words in various languages. I grab my keys and start to run outside.
"Where are you going?" John ask, grabbing my arm.
"I'm going to stop him he's gonna get himself killed," I reply.
"But-" he starts.
"John, take Alex and Jeremy somewhere safe. I will come back. I promise," I say. He looks at me. Then he pulls me into a hug. "Good luck," he says. he lets go, and I turn to Alex and give him a hug.
"I love you," I say.
"I love you too, Yassen," he says. finally, I turn to Jeremy.
"Please come back. I don't want to lose you when I've just found you," he says.
"I will. I love you,' he nods, unable to speak. I see the tears well up in his eyes, and I give him a slight smile.
I run out and get in my car. I have no idea where Nikolei is, but I can find Anton. When he first arrived, when I still didn't trust him, I put a tracker in his phone. I turn the GPS device on. A red dot appears, moving west. I start to follow him. I hope it's him. It could, of course, be Nikolei luring me into a trap. I finally reach where the red dot stops. I get out of my car and head toward the building where the red dot is.
"Don't move," a voice behind me says suddenly.
I turn around slowly to face Nikolei. He looks different, even though its only been a couple weeks since I saw him. there seems to be more lines on his face; he looks older. "Put down your weapons," he continues. I realize my gun is in my hand, I slowly bend over and set my gun on the ground.
"I'm going to kill you. then I'm going to kill your whole family. John, Alex, and your son, Jeremy," he snarls. He's standing a few feet from me, holding his gun so it's level with my chest.
"You don't have to do this," I say.
"Yes I do! you killed my father!" he exclaims.
"Nikolei, listen to me. We've known each other since we were kids. We grew up together. We told each other everything! How can you do this? How will you be able to live with yourself after you do this?" I ask, desperate for some kind of leverage.
"Things have changed a lot since then. You left without saying goodbye to me. you dropped off the grid. And then, years later, you killed my father. How could you?" He's livid by now, yelling at me in anguish.
"I didn't realize it was him until after," I say, trying to stay calm.
"Your lying and you know it," he growls.
"I'm not lying," I say.
"you are. Goodbye, Yassen Gregorovich," he snarls, and he fires the gun. Right before he does, though, something moves in front of me. I hear a small scream of pain. I blink in surprise, but I react instantly, grabbing my gun off the ground.
"No!" Nikolei yells and I see that Anton is on the ground, with a growing stain of blood on his chest. he lept in front of me right before Nikolei fired. He saved my life.
"You did this!" Nikolei screams at me, staring at his son in horror. He aims the gun at me a second time, his hand shaking uncontrollably. He lifts his other hand and places it over the one holding the gun to steady it. I raise my own gun.
"Don't make me kill you. I don't want to do this," I say. He holds the gun even tighter, squeezing his finger on the trigger.
"I will kill you," he seethes.
"I'm sorry, Nikolei," I say, and I pull the trigger. I see the bullet hit him, but I turn away, unable to watch my friend fall. After a few seconds, I turn back.
"Yassen," I'm surprised that Anton is still alive. I kneel down next to him. There is blood covering his chest and it's still spreading.
"Your going to be all right. I'll call MI6 and…" I trail off. He grabs my arm.
"Don't" he says softly.
"Why did you do it?" I ask.
"Because you have something that my father never really did. You have a family that you love. My dad never had that," he says simply.
"Thank you," I say. I don't know what else to say. "Your very brave," I finally say. He nods. He gives a shuddering breath, and his eyes flicker. He closes them, and I hear his breath rush out of his mouth. I gently place my fingers against his neck; there's no pulse. He's gone.
I stay there, kneeling next to the dead man for a long time. Finally, I stand and call John.
"Yassen? What happened?" he asks.
"He almost killed me, but Anton saved my life. Nikolei is dead. so is Anton, though. he jumped in front of me and Nikolei shot him instead of me," I explain.
"You all right?" he asks, concern filling his voice.
"I don't know. I really don't know," I say. I just killed my best friend, and I had to watch his son, someone who I've grown to care for, die.
I return home and I give Alex, Jeremy, and John the details of what happened.
"How…what…your feelings…" Jeremy tries to say something but he can't find the right words.
"Are you trying to ask me what I'm feeling right now?" I ask. He nods. "I regret killing him. I regret getting Anton involved in this whole mess. I feel like there's a part of me that's gone, and it can never be replaced," I say. I've never expressed my feeling like this before. I've never allowed myself to feel like this before.
"You did the right thing, Yassen," John says.
"Really? Did I? Was killing him the right thing to do? is killing anyone the right thing to do?" I ask. My question is greeted with silence; no one knows how to respond to that.
"Yassen?" Alex says. I glance at him. "I think it was the right thing to do. If you'd died, all of us would have lost you. He died, but in the end, no one really lost him. He didn't really have people who cared about him, but you do," I realize that this is almost the same thing that Anton said before he died. I nod, and it finally sinks in that it's true. And I promise myself something. I will never kill anyone else again. Right now, all that matters to me is that my family is safe. Maybe someday, Alex and I will get back with the spy business. But right now, all I want to do is live in peace, with no fear of anything. And with the family I love most.
The End!